Americans Against the War statement concerning events at the NO to NATO protest in Strasbourg on April 4, 2009
AAW is outraged by the state violence directed at thousands of peaceful demonstrators and dismayed that the major media saw fit not to interview the marchers, thus becoming complicit in the French government's determination to both stifle their message and to deny protesters their democratic rights.
In their efforts to grab resources such as oil, U.S. led Empire Builders use NATO troops to slaughter, wound and maim millions in order to crush any who dare resist US hegemony.
The demonstration in Strasbourg was held to oppose NATO, an aggressive, global, military alliance increasingly used by the U.S.A. to replace the United Nations. The thousands of heavily armed forces massed in Strasbourg to confront peaceful demonstrators is a reflection of NATO's strategy world-wide.
As Americans we are acutely aware that the repression ordered by Nicolas Sarkozy was linked to Barack Obama's mission in Strasbourg: to convince the other NATO members to increase the number of soldiers engaged in fighting US-led wars against the people of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
We are baffled that European leaders should so willingly support American wars and occupation which, as history shows, inevitably fail and leave a legacy of hatred for generations to come.
As residents of France, with it's long history of refusal to join NATO's military command, we deplore President Sarkozy's wanton disregard of the people's wishes.
In line with NATO's pro-active military strategy, which means to stop events before they occur, everything was done to prevent the Strasbourg protest from taking place: the city was put under siege; the local population was prevented from expressing solidarity; public transportation was shut down making it necessary for the protesters to walk for hours, past numerous police check points, to access the remote area where the imposed site for the demonstration was located. And even while these sabotaging tactics were implemented in Strasbourg, the police prevented a reported 7000 peaceful, fellow demonstrators from Germany from crossing into France although the Schengen Agreement supposedly enables Europeans to travel freely between EU countries.
In spite of all these hurdles, some 30,000 protesters in Strasbourg bravely cycled or walked for hours, past intimidating police forces, and finally reached the imposed site: a gravel pit in the middle of a post-industrial no-man's land. While assembled and trapped in that pit, trying to listen to speakers amid the roar of helicopters overhead, Sarkozy's forces repeatedly launched teargas grenades onto and at the peaceful demonstrators, including Americans Against the War members, who dared to say NO to NATO. Their attacks continued along the route of the subsequent march, where, in addition to teargas, they used flash bombs while keeping protesters penned in, having blocked off all possible exits.
Freedom is not for governments to grant: democratic rights exist to the extent that people demand and use them. Despite Sarkozy's attempts at sabotage, not only did we exercise our rights on April 4, but the multinational anti-war, anti-NATO groups have come away strengthened and more determined than ever to continue demonstrating for justice and peace.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated April 4, 1967
Communiqué des Americans Against the War (AAW) à propos des événements du 4 avril à Strasbourg, lors de la manifestation contre l’OTAN
AAW est outré par la violence d’Etat, qui a visé des milliers de manifestants pacifiques, et scandalisé que les principaux médias aient ignoré le témoignage des manifestants, se faisant ainsi les complices du gouvernement français pour étouffer le message porté par les manifestants et nier leurs droits démocratiques.
Dans leurs efforts pour s’approprier des ressources comme le pétrole, les agents de l’empire américain utilisent les troupes de l’OTAN pour massacrer, mutiler, blesser des millions de gens, dans le but de briser quiconque ose résister à l’hégémonie américaine.
La manifestation de Strasbourg entendait s’opposer à l’OTAN, cette alliance militaire agressive à l’échelle du monde, de plus en plus utilisée par les Etats-Unis pour remplacer les Nations Unies. Les milliers d’hommes lourdement armés, rassemblés à Strasbourg pour combattre des manifestants pacifiques, sont un symbole de la stratégie que l’OTAN mène dans le monde.
En tant qu’Américains, nous savons bien que cette répression, ordonnée par Sarkozy, était liée à la venue de Barack Obama à Strasbourg, où il voulait convaincre les autres membres de l’OTAN d’envoyer plus de soldats pour mener les guerres américaines contre les peuples d’Irak, d’Afghanistan et du Pakistan.
Nous sommes stupéfaits du soutien volontaire que les dirigeants européens apportent aux guerres et aux occupations américaines qui, comme l’Histoire l’a montré, conduisent invariablement à des échecs et à des haines livrées en héritage aux générations futures.
Nous qui résidons en France, pays qui a longtemps refusé d’entrer dans le commandement militaire intégré de l’OTAN, nous déplorons le mépris du président Sarkozy pour les aspirations de son peuple.
En conformité avec la stratégie militaire préventive de l’OTAN, qui consiste à contrecarrer les événements avant même qu’ils se produisent, tout a été fait pour empêcher la manifestation de Strasbourg : la ville était en état de siège, la population locale n’avait pas le droit de manifester sa solidarité et les transports publics étaient bloqués, contraignant les manifestants à marcher pendant des heures et à passer de nombreux barrages de police pour accéder à l’endroit reculé où la manifestation avait été reléguée. Alors même que ces techniques de sabotage étaient mises en œuvre à Strasbourg, la police a empêché 7000 manifestants pacifiques venus d’Allemagne de franchir la frontière, en contradiction avec les accords de Schengen, qui sont censés permettre la libre circulation des Européens.
En dépit de tous ces obstacles, environ 30 000 manifestants ont courageusement marché pendant des heures et passé des barrages de police menaçants, pour atteindre finalement le lieu imposé : une étendue de pierres, au milieu d’un no-man’s land post-industriel. Alors qu’ils étaient rassemblés et piégés dans cet endroit, tentant d’écouter des discours sous le vrombissement des hélicoptères, les forces de Sarkozy tiraient des grenades lacrymogènes contre ces manifestants pacifiques, y compris les membres des Americans Against the War qui avaient osé dire « NON à l'OTAN ». Leurs attaques se sont poursuivies tout au long du trajet suivi par la manifestation où, en plus des gaz lacrymogènes, ils ont utilisé des flash-balls contre des manifestants, tout en maintenant toutes les issues bloquées.
La liberté n’est pas une faveur à attendre des gouvernements. Ce qui fait exister les droits démocratiques, c’est que les peuples les exigent et les utilisent. Malgré les tentatives de sabotage de Sarkozy, non seulement nous avons exercé nos droits ce 4 avril, mais les mouvements internationaux contre la guerre et contre l’OTAN en sont ressortis plus forts et plus déterminés que jamais à continuer leur combat pour la justice et la paix.
“Les barricades sont les voix de ceux qu'on n'entend pas.”
- Martin Luther King Jr., assassiné le 4 avril 1968
Iraq Veterans Against the War invites you to a hearing in Freiburg on March 14 Soldiers and veterans will share the truth about wars in Iraq, Afghanistan
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) invites you to hear the hard truth about what is really on happening on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, day in and day out, from American, British and German veterans. Winter Soldier Europe will feature veterans’ testimony in Freiburg, Germany, on March 14, just weeks before NATO has its annual summit in southern Germany.
Coordinated by the European chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), the event is supported by Connection e.V., RüstungsInformationsBüro (RIB), Freiburger Friedensforum, Freiburger Friedenswoche, Tübingen Progressive Americans, Munich American Peace Committee, American Voices Abroad Berlin, Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg/Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut e.V. as well as the Freiburg-based groups of DFG-VK, attac, VVN/BdA and IPPNW. The event has been named Winter Soldier to honor a similar gathering 30 years ago of veterans of the Vietnam War. Winter soldiers, according to American founding father Thomas Paine, are the people who stand up for the soul of their country, even in its darkest hours. IVAW held its first Winter Soldier hearings about Iraq and Afghanistan last year in Washington, D.C. While offical reports are saying that the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan is improving, these veterans will stand up to reveal the unpleasant and unpublicized realities of the ongoing U.S. military occupation.
Expected testifiers include: U.S. AWOL soldier and Iraq veteran André Shepherd who seeks asylum in Germany (...more) Christian Neumann, soldier of the German army and veteran of the war in Afghanistan. US Navy journalist Zack Baddorf. US-veteran Chris Capps who deserted before deployment to Afghanistan.
“We’ve heard from the politicians, we’ve heard from the generals, we’ve heard from the media – now it’s our turn,” said Kelly Dougherty, executive director of IVAW and a former sergeant who served in Iraq.
The hearing will convene on March 14, 2009, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Café Velo, Wentzinger Str. 15 in Freiburg (Stadtbahnbrücke/HBF Freiburg). We will be pleased to welcome you.
Broadcast Media: Please confirm your attendance by March 10 so we can reserve you an audio input on our sound system.
To run the hearing, we need your support. Please donate to the following account: "KDV im Krieg", BIC GENODEM1GLS, IBAN DE42 4306 0967 8022 4097 00, purpose: IVAW Europe/Winter Soldier MEDIA CONTACTS: Zack Baddorf, +40.749.617.478 (Romania), +423.663.129.121 (Lichtenstein), zack(at)baddorf(dot)com Chris Capps-Schubert, +49.152.062.65602 (Germany), europe(at)ivaw(dot)org
For German Media: Rudi Friedrich, 069-82375534, send an eMail For more information, visit: Freiburger Friedensforum www.fffr.de Connection e.V. www.Connection-eV.de Iraq Veterans Against the War www.ivaw.org/wintersoldier Iraq Veterans Against the War Europe www.ivaw-europe.blogspot.com
Iraq Veterans Against the War Europe, Connection e.V. and others: Press release, February 12, 2009
Return to NATO worries French http://www.russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-02-14/ Return_to_NATO_worries_French.html
14 February, 2009, 12:50
President Sarkozy’s decision to bring France fully back into NATO is making waves in French politics. The leading opposition Socialist party has called for a debate on the subject in the National Assembly. François Bayrou, the key centrist candidate in the 2007 presidential elections and leader of the new Mouvement Démocrate (MoDem) party, said:
“It is not conceivable for a major power like ours to enter the integrated command structure and then leave again, every time the government changes, this decision should only be taken through a vote by referendum of the French people.”
In 1966 General de Gaulle withdrew from the integrated command structure of NATO. His motive was that the military alliance set up in 1949 to defend the Western Europe from the threat of a Soviet attack did not take into account French concerns. The Americans retained control of the key decision as to whether nuclear weapons could be used. The General feared that in the event of an attack the Americans would not risk nuclear war to keep the Soviets out of France. He also argued that no European defence organisation was possible as long as NATO existed.
In 1996, under President Chirac, France entered negotiations to return to the integrated command but insisted on a say in the alliance policy and certain command positions previously reserved for American generals. His proposition was refused by the then U.S. administration and the negotiations were dropped. It seems that by drawing closer to the Americans especially by violently opposing Iran’s nuclear programme and increasing the French contribution to the war in Afghanistan, Sarkozy has succeeded with the Americans where his predecessor failed. He has particularly asked for a greater Europeanisation of NATO policy. However, there are voices even within the ranks of his own UMP majority party that question the decision. UMP leader in the French National Assembly Jean-François Copé commenting on the Socialist request for a debate with a vote said “I am not against a debate, but not necessarily with a vote”. He admitted that there were “worries and hesitations on the subject” in the UMP. There is to be a special meeting of a group of UMP members to discuss the question.
French Deputies have already arranged to question Defence Minister Hervé Morin and Foreign Minster Bernard Kouchner. Some members are calling for Dominique de Villepin, President Chirac’s last Prime Minister and fierce political rival to President Sarkozy, to be heard as well. He is strongly opposed to France returning to the NATO military committee. Speaking on Monday he said that joining the NATO committee would mean that France would find itself “shrunk diplomatically”. He added that “My position is well known. I am against the return to the integrated command structure.” Speaking on television he questioned “The southern hemisphere is getting stronger. In a world that is radically changing, is this really the moment to give the impression of freezing ourselves into a Western European family. I think we ought to be open to the world and I believe that the positioning of France, which is one of independence, is vital to stability in the world.” He concluded “If tomorrow we are fully integrated into NATO, would we be able to maintain the same option that we took over the war in Iraq? My answer is no”.
In 2003 France joined Germany and Russia in opposing the invasion of Iraq. Dominique de Villepin, then French Foreign Minister, made a notable speech opposing the invasion in the United Nations Security Council.
The decision to bring France fully back into the alliance is due to be formally announced at the special 60th anniversary conference to held in Strasbourg and Baden-Baden from April 3 – 5. It will be Barack Obama’s first visit to Europe as U.S. President.
VIDEO of AMERICANS AGAINST THE WAR FRANCE part 1 by Ron Modro
VIDEO of AMERICANS AGAINST THE WAR FRANCE part 2 by Ron Modro
AAW STATEMENTS - 2007
Read collective LETTER to DEMOCRATS ABROAD Americans for Peace and Justice, Montpellier, France Americans Against the War, France American Voices Abroad, Beirut, Lebanon U.S. Citizens Against War, Florence, Italy U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome Munich American Peace Committee, Munich, Germany American Voices Abroad Military Project, International
